Eldorado artists display their skills
The week of March 15 is not only home to St. Patrick's Day, but also marks 2015's National Art Education Week.
National Art Education Week is seven days out of the year dedicated to the importance of the arts in education systems across America. The Eldorado High School Art Club took the time to showcase their art for the week by hosting their annual art show. The students from the high school and middle school both had artworks on display in the cafeteria at EHS. The art show took place on Friday, March 13, and was open to parents and students who wished to attend. The Eldorado Elementary teachers brought their classes to the cafeteria to learn about art from the high school art students. There were many smiling faces as children learned about line, color, and composition, all while admiring the artworks of their older brothers and sisters.
Throughout the art show, students and their art teacher, Jeff Cox, strived to promote awareness of the arts. Art is a crucial learning resource, and with new reforms coming up, many schools in Illinois may see their arts classes being cut dramatically or erased from the curriculum completely. The students of the EHS art classes are very passionate about keeping the program and, therefore, want to keep children interested. The art show helps elementary-aged children explore the possibilities of art, and middle school/high school students determined to do the best work.
The EHS Art show ran from 8 a.m. Friday until late in the evening on Friday night, in conjunction with the FFA Fish Fry. Many members of the community came out to support the arts program in Eldorado and took a tour around the cafeteria, admiring the works of Eldorado school students. The best of show went to Taylor Cox's rendition of a tiger, which raked in an impressive 137 votes. Taylor is the junior president of the Art Club and teaches art to elementary school kids through the Art Strategies class at EHS. She plans to attend Southeastern Illinois College for two years and transfer to Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in art.